NEW YORK – A batch of formerly secret documents made public by news outlets today underscores the need for independent judicial review of the cases of men being held at Guantánamo, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

The following can be attributed to Hina Shamsi, Director of the ACLU National Security Project:

“These documents are remarkable because they show just how questionable the government’s basis has been for detaining hundreds of people, in some cases indefinitely, at Guantánamo. The one-sided assessments are rife with uncorroborated evidence, information obtained through torture, speculation, errors and allegations that have been proven false.

“The documents are the fruit of the original sin by which the rule of law was scrapped when Guantanámo detainees were first rounded up. If the government had followed the law, it would have established a meaningful and prompt process to separate the innocent from those who are legally detainable.

“It’s not too late to change course and we need more legal process, not less, to make sure we’re holding the right people. The cases of the remaining Guantánamo detainees cry out for independent judicial review.”